The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today assailed the Aquino government for not demanding the pull-out of 600 United States Special Forces elements "permanently stationed" in Mindanao since 2002. The call came just days before the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks which triggered the US-led global "war on terror". The "war on terror" resulted in direct US military aggression in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, and "secret wars" in some 70 other countries.
While the US State Department in a report recently lauded the "decline" of terrorist activities in the Philippines, there appears to be no time-table for the pull-out of US counter-terror units stationed in Mindanao. The group believes that counter-terrorism is just a "pretext" for justifying the permanent presence of US troops in the country.
In 2002, the Philippines was tagged by the US as the "second front" in the "war on terror", and Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines was launched. For the first time, US forces were deployed in actual combat areas in Mindanao under the guise of training exercises called Balikatan 02-1. The US forces were supposed to train and assist Philippine troops in going after the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya. US forces have not left Southern Philippines since. A permanent structure has been set-up inside Camp Navarro in Zamboanga which hosts a rotating force of about 600 personnel from the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, a unit under the US Joint Special Operations Command.
"It is incomprehensible why the Philippine government has not questioned the permanent basing of US troops in Mindanao, since this already goes against the definition of 'visiting forces' as contemplated by the Visiting Forces Agreement. The decision to maintain the US Special Forces in Mindanao was a unilateral move by the US government during the time of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. However, the Aquino administration apparently does not mind this continuing violation of the country's sovereignty," said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
"Unlike in Iraq or Afghanistan, there is no time-table for the pull-out of US troops in Mindanao. There are no clear parameters for when they will consider their 'mission' accomplished. Clearly, the US government is circumventing a constitutional prohibition on US bases absent any basing treaty. The Philippine government is allowing itself to be hoodwinked. The Philippine government has allowed itself to be used in this 10-year borderless war on terror that has claimed more lives worldwide than the original victims of 9-11," Reyes added.
Exactly two years ago, the New York Times reported that then US Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to "keep an elite 600-troop counterinsurgency operation deployed in the Philippines despite pressure to reassign its members elsewhere".
"The NY Times article tells us that the decision for US Special Forces to stay in Mindanao was a unilateral decision made by the US government. It is an imposition by a super power on a puppet state. It is not a sign of enduring friendship. It is a measure of how the US regards PH sovereignty. It is a sign that the US is trying to one-up the Philippines every chance it gets," Reyes said.
Bayan said that not a single government agency or institution has raised any objection to the US virtual basing in Mindanao.
"What is the Department of Foreign Affairs doing? What is the Presidential Commission on the VFA doing? What is the Joint Congressional Oversight on the VFA doing? None of them appear to be even remotely concerned about this violation of our country's sovereignty," Reyes said.
"The whole rationale of US troops are helping us against the ASG, when taken over a span of a nearly a decade, no longer appears credible. They are permanently stationed here not just because of they want to help us with the ASG. The US is protecting its other interests in the region," he added.
The NY Times article described the Special Operations Forces as "the most highly skilled in the military at capture-and-kill missions against insurgent and terrorist leaders. Within their ranks, Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets, have for decades been training (US) allied troops on their home soil and conducting counterinsurgency missions."
Meanwhile, analyst Nick Terse in an article describes the JSOC as a power-elite even in Washington. "In 120 countries across the globe, troops from Special Operations Command carry out their secret war of high-profile assassinations, low-level targeted killings, capture/kidnap operations, kick-down-the-door night raids, joint operations with foreign forces, and training missions with indigenous partners as part of a shadowy conflict unknown to most Americans."
Analysts have also estimated that funding for these units have tripled in the aftermath of 9-11. In the Philippines, Terse estimates that the US government spends some $50 million a year to maintain the 600-man Special Forces unit.
Bayan said that it is ironic that while the nation will be observing the 20th anniversary of the historic rejection of the US bases treaty by the Philippine Senate, US forces have managed to diminish this victory by having permanent and continuing presence in Mindanao.
"It's like the bases never really left. While the US facilities in Mindanao host a much smaller force, the rationale for their presence remains the same," Reyes said.
The umbrella group again called attention to the serious flaws of the Visiting Forces Agreement, saying that its vagueness can be exploited to allow the permanent stationing of an unlimited number of foreign troops, engaged in unspecified activities, anywhere in the country.
"There has been a review of the VFA completed by Malacanang, yet the results have not been made public. Unfortunately, the review does not include the question of permanent basing of US troops in Mindanao," Reyes added. ###
from: www.bayan.ph
